I opened my closet door to put away some clean clothes my mother had given me. I looked down next to my hand-me-down sneakers and saw a wolf spider big enough to make a grown man shriek. Naturally, I was terrified so I carefully picked up the shoe as he flinched once or twice and threw it down hoping to kill him. My attempt was in vain as the spider scurried under the filing cabinet where I kept my under garments. Trying to find the spider before he found his way do a pile of my dirty clothes, I hurriedly rolled the filing cabinet out of the way. The spider was sitting peacefully in the shadowed corner of my closet. I knew I couldn't fit my shoe in the corner to kill him so I ran frantically to the kitchen to find window cleaners. There were two spray bottles so I grabbed them and ran back to my closet. Shaking with adrenaline, I sprayed the spider with both bottles until he was drowning in chemicals. The large spider ran under the filing cabinet for safety. I moved the cabinet out of the way and he ran toward my pile of clothes. Panicked, I threw shirts and jackets aside only to see the spider dragging his limp body towards my foot. He stopped an inch away from me as if asking me to end his pain. Mercilessly, I did. There was a loud crunch as my shoe connected with his body. At first, I felt nothing – like anybody else – but then I pondered the way that innocent creature crawled toward me with more agony and grief than any creature deserves. My vision began to blur with tears filling my eyes. My heart ached for that spider that merely wanted peace sitting by my shoe. Any other spider would have been granted life in my room given that they were small and non-threatening. I would even dare to say that I enjoy the company of little spiders making homes in the dark corners of my bedroom – enjoying the warmth of the indoors rather than the harsh cold winds outside. Yet any other girl would have not thought twice about ending such a small creature's life. Why? Butterflies feed off dead corpses. Ladybugs bite your flesh if they feel inclined to. A spider simply creates silky art and wait for an unwanted fly to be captured in the her web. But the saddest fact of the matter is that spiders die.
